A Cellist's Peace
by The Duelist's Heiress
Summary: Dragged by his sister to a gala at the Domino Museum, Marik is intrigued by a cellist in red. The cellist, Miko, is merely filling in for the cellist who was supposed to play with the orchestra. MarikXOC


**DH AN: **I have a new story. This is a request fic for **Miko Hayashi**. Please enjoy **A Cellist's Piece. **This fic takes place after Battle City, so Marik is repented.

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

Miko Hayashi stepped into her modest home with a soft sigh. She set her brown bag on the end table in the foyer before bending down to appease the dog that was wagging his tail and bouncing around her feet. "I missed you too, Chinook." She laughed at the canine's antics as he started chasing his fluffy tail. "Want to come into the reptile room with me?" Miko wasn't surprised that the canine seemed to shy away from the idea… the dog had a bad experience with one of the pythons as a pup. The python merely stuck its forked tongue out at the Siberian Husky pup, but it frightened him so much that the dog never set a paw into the reptile room again.

She shrugged at the dog, stepping around the corner to enter a small room added onto the house. The room was a pleasant temperature. There were two tanks on either side that held two bearded dragons each; the males Mako and Blue Eyes in one, the females Rosa and Luna in the other. Miko smiled at both tanks' occupants as she moved on to the chinese water dragons, tossing her black hair over her shoulder.

Both Yin the male and Yang the female eyed Miko curiously from their perch on the branch in their tank as the girl rummaged in the cupboard where she kept the food for her reptiles. She plucked out a jar of mealworms, an apple and knife, and a jar of crickets. She had no need for the mice, as she did not need to feed the pythons daily. She ran to the kitchen to rinse the apple, and returned to slice the apple, placing the slices into Yin and Yang's tank. She tossed a few mealworms in as well. Returning to the bearded dragons, Miko placed an equal number of crickets in each tank, gently stroking Mako's blue and black scales once with her pointer finger; he was her favorite.

She then moved on to the crocodile skinks; the female Midnight and male Smokey. She placed crickets in their tank as well. She passed the pythons, smiling at both Caramel the female and Tsuki the male; the snakes were still digesting mice from yesterday.

Lastly, Miko came to the tank that held the frilled dragons. The females, Sunrise and Sunset, scrambled up to the glass, looking at the jars in Miko's hands expectantly. Or more precisely, their attention was on the food in those jars. The male, Mushu, just stayed in the corner, swishing his tail indifferently. "Sheesh, you two; make sure you leave some for Mushu okay?" Miko sighed as she dropped both crickets and mealworms into the tank.

She replaced the food back into the cabinet. "Now to get ready for that gala at the Domino Museum." She stepped out of the reptile room and was once again trying to avoid tripping over an exuberant Chinook. She stopped at the foot of the stairs. Chinook sat on his haunches, cocking his head expectantly. "Ah yes, how could I forget about feeding you?" She laughed as she ran to the kitchen with the husky at her heels. Snatching an empty coffee can from the counter, Miko opened the pantry to scoop enough dry dog food to fill a quarter of the can. She dumped the contents into the green dog bowl, and set it in front of her antsy, anxious husky. "Now I can go get ready for that gala."

Sprinting up the stairs, Miko entered her room, shutting the door. Hanging on the back of that door was the dress that she intended to wear for the evening. It was a shade of red that was almost maroon. She stepped over to her desktop computer, finding and selecting a file. She exhaled gently as the notes of Bach's Cello Suite No.1 floated through the air. She slipped out of her heeled boots, wiggling her toes in her socks, before removing that footwear as well. She then hung her black blazer on the coat tree near the door.

She quickly shrugged out of her tacky black suit top and matching skirt that her boss insisted she wear while working; he was one to talk, he always wore the most unprofessional outfit imaginable. Miko sighed softly as she slipped into her evening dress, tying the black straps at the top of the garment around her neck. She then slipped into a pair of deep red heels that complemented her dress perfectly.

She ran a comb through her hair, thankful that she already had her cello in the car; it was the most time consuming acrobatic feat to maintain her balance and not drop the string instrument. Snatching her blazer from the coat tree, Miko swept out of the room. Pausing at the top of the stairs, she quickly gave thought to sliding down the banister but decided against it; she'd probably wind up with her face painfully meeting the floor and in no condition to play with that orchestra. Their cellist had become ill, and they really needed a cellist to complete the engagement. Miko had spied a flyer tacked onto a bulletin board and called the number on the flyer when she learned they were without their cellist. The practices had been difficult with her job as Kaiba Corporation's Chief Graphic Designer, but she had managed to survive the week of an additional hour tacked onto her schedule for rehearsals.

Miko carefully stepped down the stairs then peeked into the kitchen to see see Chinook licking the last morsels of the dog food from his bowl. She then poked her head back into the reptile room before running out the door.

Pulling into the parking lot of the Domino Museum, Miko sighed with relief, as she had fifteen minutes to set up for the gala. "Now to get my cello out of the car and into that building without falling over." Miko stated bluntly.

She opened the back passenger door of her car and grabbed the case out of the backseat. She pulled back on the case with a little too much force and the case came towards her in slow motion. She closed her eyes as she waited to meet the asphalt. Rather than the hard ground, she felt another person supporting her. "That was almost a disaster. Can I help you with that instrument of yours?" A male voice asked.

"S-sure." Miko stated somewhat shakily as the gentleman helped her regain her balance. "Thank you." Miko opened her eyes and watched as the male picked up the instrument case almost effortlessly. The man was half a foot taller than she was and he had hazel eyes that showed nothing but kindness. He also had some odd scars on the right half of his face. "I always have trouble getting that out of the car without toppling myself over."

"Well, I'm glad I could help you, Miss." The man supplied, opening the glass doors to allow Miko to enter first.

"I can take my instrument from here, but would it be too much trouble to ask you to point me to the Egyptian wing?"

"Well, I am heading that way myself so if I may carry your instrument, I will happily show you to the Egyptian Wing… Strange though, I thought the cellist of the orchestra was ill." He murmured.

"I stepped up to play for them." Miko supplied.

"Ah, well, the museum is no doubt happy that there will still be live music." The man stated, setting the case down near a music stand where all the other musicians were already tuning their instruments. "If you will excuse me, Miss; I must go find my two companions."

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><p><strong>DH: <strong>Please read and review. Thank you. Marik will be in next chapter. I promise.


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